Work Hard, Play Hard

Conscientious Work Has Great Benefit

One of my motto's for years has been, "Work hard, play hard." Another one that I live by is, "If I am to do something then I will do it to the best of my ability."

I was reminded about this as I spent time finishing one of my wood carvings to be judged in a show this coming weekend.

This is the way of the old craftsman who spends days, even weeks, working on a single piece because he wants to create something useful, beautiful, and meaningful. Not mass produced, not factory made, not mindlessly manufactured and consumed. Artistically enriching one's life and possibly bettering another's.

This is the way of the writer who pours her soul into a novel, not to crank out a best-seller every year but to perhaps change the way someone sees the world.

This is the way of anyone who works at a company - not just to clock in and get a paycheck, but to make a contribution. To do work s/he’s proud of. To create something powerful in the world.

This is the work of any artist or creator, any entrepreneur, any coach or athlete, any parent or auto mechanic … who puts more effort than is required into the work, because from that effort is created meaning.

My meditation Teacher is always reminding me (irritatingly so at times) that the work never ends. There is the practical work of making a lively-hood. The work of simplifying life as much as possible. The work of cultivating yourself to become the best human being you can be. We are given this gift to improve ourselves until the moment we die.

The more ah ha's and revelations one has during meditation; the more you know that you don't know. This is not in a sad way, however, it is in a joyous exploration of life's full offerings.

I hope you can find yourself working hard and playing hard today.

Please join me Monday mornings and Wednesday nights. See calendar page for the dates. www.MeditationFromTheHeart.com

Benefits of Meditation - Personal Experience

It is hard to describe Sum Faht Meditation in exact detail because it taps into what is needed in the moment and produces different results every time for every individual. Overall the results are for the good and for the betterment of the person. Any meditation practice helps one to pause, look inside and listen. Answers are always there.

Meditation from the Heart

In my style of Meditation I teach with a variety of tools to help people handle their life in an easier, lighter, more fun or pleasant way. A good meditation practice has many ‘aha’ moments. These come with delights from the new understandings. There is not a “One step to Heaven” enlightenment in Sum Faht practice, but a beautiful journey with many benefits along the way.

What are the benefits of meditation? Like my son likes to say, “You gotta do it to know it.” There is an inexplicable, feel-able connection to yourself and to your higher self to know what you want or don’t want in life. It is nice to take the time to sit quietly especially when you do it with personal reverence. Meditation builds compassion for yourself and others. It also builds a strong connection with Nature - seeing the beauty of the divine in all things great and small.

Yes, there are the recurring basics within the Sum Faht Meditation Practice. For example: Sitting Meditation, Standing Meditation, Walking Meditation, Guided Movements (moving meditation), Learnings of Healing, and Mudra Meditations (which are hand positions.) We also work with intuition and with Nature.

Recently I heard the sublime song by Bobby McFerrin called Discipline. It reminds me a bit about peoples struggle to do the things that are ultimately good for them.

“No discipline seems pleasant

at the time but painful.

Later on, however, it produces

A harvest of righteousness and peace

For those who have been trained by it.

No discipline seems pleasant

at the time but painful.”

I find that through discipline comes freedom.

At the very beginning of my Sum Faht Path I found the strength to rid myself of a very toxic relationship and find a new one with Henry. It helped the both of us to remain sane and vital as our new journey together brought us through most all of the major stressors in life at once: New relationship, marriage, moving from west coast to east coast, new job for Henry and total career change from Interior Designer to mother of three for me, bankruptcy and moving back to the west coast (all in one year.)

I was always proactive with my children’s health. If they felt something coming on I would ‘work on them’ and poof 99% of the time they were better. By teaching the kids meditation they had an early sense of their spiritual essence and were driven to explore and question the many belief systems out there. Often I caught them in their teenage years explaining meditation to their friends. They all three told me later how meditation helped them get through the trials of their teens.

My meditation practice has transformed my life over and over again. It has helped me go from a person with a complete lack of confidence to feeling courageous and sound in almost all life circumstances.

I have moved from being invisible to visible. Yet I can still be a ‘ninja’ if stealth is needed. I share a deep connection with people from all over the US and other countries. I truly like myself and have faith and the power to change what is no longer working for me. I feel safe. I can go with the flow.

My meditation practice gives me structure and personal strength to my days. There is a noticeable difference between the days I meditate first and the ones where I just run out the door.

I encourage you to join me in my Sum Faht meditation classes (see calendar) or to dust off your own practice. “You gotta do it to know it.” Meditation is good.

Life's Seven Challenges

The seven challenges to being a good human being are: Humility, Patience, Acceptance of Fate, Surrender, Simplicity, Detachment and Harmony with Nature.

The theme underlying all of the challenges is the basic struggle to be a well-balanced, good-hearted person. There is a story about two monks who are walking along when one asks the other about his goals in life. The one monk replies, "I'd like to be a saint. Why? What are your goals?" The other monk says, "I just want to be a good human being." The first monk responds, "You are very ambitious."

Humility: Whatever qualities or attributes we possess were given to us. They were not our doing. We didn't create our intelligence, competence with languages, artistic skills, or ability to deal well with people. These are, quite literally, gifts. As we develop spiritually, we increase our ability to help or heal others. We can become better vehicles for healing or helping, but we are not the originators of that energy. Part of the purpose of spiritual development is to help others, but that is not a way or an excuse for making ourselves more important or powerful.

Patience: Spiritual development takes a very long time and is a slow and painstaking process. It is work that does not end. There is no 'getting there.' There is only more insight, and the reward is more work.  Impatience merely hampers our progress. It is as inappropriate as standing in your garden screaming at a seedling to grow faster, to hurry up and bloom.

Blooms once a year

Acceptance of Fate: We can't control reality. But we can control the way we deal with whatever happens. We can feel defeated by a particular event and wail at the heavens, or we can choose to view the event as a challenge, a test of our ability to maintain faith no matter what the circumstance. But an understanding that some things are beyond our control is a wisdom and can simply be accepted as gracefully as possible.

Surrender: We want to naturally live on faith that our struggles have some meaning, that our efforts are not in vain. We must surrender have faith in the forces that impel our lives.

It is an excellent time to surrender in meditation. In particular, we must surrender the ego. We need to bypass the intellect and the ego so that higher spiritual forces can communicate with our Inner Selves. Having a fundamental faith in the power and benevolence of those forces are good to cultivate so that we can truly let go and surrender ourselves to their care.

Simplicity: One of the greatest compliments the Teacher pays a person is to say that he or she is 'simple'; meaning open, direct, or uncomplicated. In our culture we tend to respect complexity, and we use our minds to make things 'more interesting', that is, more complex. But in meditation the intellect and complexity frankly has no place. The Teacher said once that it is very difficult for a complicated person to become simple. It is much easier, however, for a simple person to become complicated. One just needs to learn to constantly ask, "Why?" 

Impartial Observer

Detachment: When we learn to accept fate and surrender our egos and intellects we learn to have more detachment in our everyday lives. This does not mean that we don't care about things, people, or our responsibilities. We still experience strong emotions and can be deeply involved in many areas. But we learn to maintain a certain perspective, to see things in context rather than merely from the narrow viewpoint of our own egos. When someone infuriates us, we still feel the rage. In addition, however, we learn to have the discipline to also view the situation impersonally, as if we were an impartial observer.

It is good to learn detachment from our past patterns of behavior. Many of us define ourselves as victims for whom everything seems to go wrong, or as scapegoats who are always hated and picked on, or as underachievers/overachievers. We may learn to not define or limit ourselves in terms of stereotypes or anything else. And we may learn to detach ourselves from our own destructive habits.

Harmony with Nature: The final challenge is to consistently harmonize and flow with what is natural: Both the natural flow of the Universe and the flow of our own Inner natures. In meditation we learn to 'go with the flow' and to blend with different energies. In day-to-day life we strive to live in harmony with nature, not upsetting the natural balance of our world. 

Summary: It is good to consistently try to master the Seven Challenges, and integrate these values into our everyday lives. True spiritual development is measured by the goodness of our hearts and actions, not in our accomplishments and fame in the mundane world. Nor in our ability to meditate well. This, however, does not minimize the immense value of meditation.

All In A Week

Have you ever had those moments of, "Where did the time go?" Last week seemed to fly by so quickly I thought I had better take a moment and be grateful for all the things I did and not put myself down for the things not done.

I hand-addressed and sent out 70 thank you cards to the last half of March's new Water Star Motors customers. I also sent a couple of birthday and congratulation wishes. I most likely responded to 200 emails and several face book posts.


I accidentally double booked myself on Sunday with a wood carving class at Cabrillo (taught by Ron Cook) and a fundraising event at SCO. So I got started on my project, apologized to the teacher and headed to Market Street to finalize my Monkey Business themed table for 8 called  and to prepare to be a fashion model as part of the Tea's entertainment. I modeled two lovely outfits from the Daisy store. After the Tea I took my table down and put everything in my dishwasher at home. Then I joined Henry for a yummy wine tasting dinner at a friends house.

Monday I taught a Meditation from the Heart class, wrote two blogs - Reflections of a meditation retreat and Life's Seven Challenges. Downloaded photos from my camera and got frustrated with how to work with the windows 8 program on my newish laptop...argh! I practiced my singing lessons and had a nice 20 minute walk to my voice teacher's house. We revamped the entire choreography to Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend. Yep, another 20 minute walk back home after toasting (apple cider) with some of  the Stagebridge leadership team. Date night.

First thing Tuesday morning at Water Star Motors I had to update the security systems on all of our computers and help fix one of our email systems. I got caught up on some of my paperwork and then went to get a relaxing facial from Santa Cruz Skin Solutions.
After a quick bite I had a three hour rehearsal for Stagebridge's Hat's Off II at my house. Then I created and ordered up 300 more thank you notes for WSM.

Wednesday: I did my Directorship duty at the SC Women's Leads Club. Worked at WSM. Got my hair freshly colored and cut by Gloria Riola, wrote out a mudra meditation guide for my students and put a couple of hours in on my wood carving project.

Thursday: My employees are happy that I did their payroll for the week. Bank and credit card reconciliations, various reports, mail, etc. Then I took my first ever Tap class. Yes, time to 'shuffle off to buffalo'. My Follies colleagues are dreaming of me being in tap numbers in their various shows hosted by SCO (Santa Cruz Opportunities). I practiced my singing lessons. I worked on my wood carving for about an hour before teaching my evening meditation class. Henry took our son, Dan, with him to the Warrior's playoff game. During which they got to see our grandson play and our grand daughter win the 'Slam dunk' game. (Go Victoria!)

Warrior's Playoff Game

Friday: Worked for a while. Took my 1st of 6 1.5hr Musical Theatre class on Solo Expression by Kathryn Adkins through Stagebridge (more songs to learn) and my 1st of 6 Dance classes taught by Sharon Took-Zozaya. She has us learning some great choreography. Yep, a little sore and stiff.


Saturday: Started in the hot tub. Got the laundry going. Did some shopping for food and other items at the music store. Picked up a wine club shipment from Storrs. Gardened. Participated in a mini-training on web presence for My Leads Club (Thanks Kayla!). Prepared our home for tomorrow's visit of one of my sisters, Amy. And I wrote this blog.

Meanwhile, there was all of the regular stuff that goes into my daily routine. Like 8 hours of sleep, at least 3 meals a day (including artichokes and lemons from the garden), meditation,  playing with the cats, occasional power naps, moving thousands of dollars out into the universe, reminding my husband of things he may have forgotten, watching some TV, reading and playing internet games, as well as a surprise visit from our middle son, Andy.

Wow! I am grateful for my life, health, businesses, loved ones and me! I hope you are having a terrific week too!

Love and Happiness in LA

Meditation in LA

My husband, youngest son and I had the opportunity to see our meditation teacher in Los Angeles over the
Valentine's weekend. Love and Happiness were two of the main topics.

During a weekend workshop we participate with 10 hours of being with the Teacher. This is spread over Friday evening, Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning.
We do not meditate 10 hours straight. Our time is interspersed with meditation, pearls of wisdom, other teachings and healing work. I have gathered for you many of the pearls that relate to the theme of love and happiness.

It is good to love - cultivate it. One of my initial challenging lessons from my first days of meditation was to understand how important it is to love yourself first and to love yourself from within. My upbringing was to do everything for others first and if I had the time, then do for me. It actually works much better the other way around.

Not feeling well? The expression is, "Feeling under the weather." How about changing that to, "Feeling over the weather or above the weather," when you are healthy again.

The Teacher was talking to one of the gentlemen at the workshop about needing both money and love. "Which one is more important?" When one is in the initial stage of love then the world is an absolutely wonderful place to be. You can breathe in lightness and air - live off love alone. It is so fulfilling and delightful.

Are you happy when you are on vacation? Why not take that happiness feeling and apply to your work when you get back home? Be happy at work like you are on vacation.

Strangely enough, looking at oneself does not always spark happiness within because human beings have a  habit of self-criticism. Be happy with yourself...one little thing at a time. What we have should make us happy. We must cultivate love to give happiness easily.

It is not easy to surrender. Who to? Surrender to yourself...the big SELF, i.e. the higher self that resides within. That kind of surrender allows your spirit to guide you to find your happiness. Just accept yourself. Your friends do!!!

Fun in Alaska

Wake up knowing, "This is a nice morning." Say out loud or inwardly, "This is a nice morning!" with your very first step out the door. Take fun with you wherever you go. Life is beautiful. It is a gift. Enjoy it!

"Life is like a meatball." Solid, but requires mixing all the ingredients including the spices to make it fun. Make sure your self-talk is full of positives. "I can do this." "I'm feeling good."

You don't have to go looking for love. It will be there. Accept all things with love. Love yourself to mend broken relations.

Last Two of the Six Common Meditation Mistakes

Previously, we have looked at four of  the six most common meditation mistakes. (#1: I'm trying to quiet my mind. #2: I'm just trying to feel peaceful and open during my meditations. #3: "I've been doing the same practice for months or years." #4: "I'm trying to reach enlightenment or a permanent state of bliss.")

 If you have tried meditation and have become frustrated either with maintaining your practice or with a lack of results, do not feel alone. At times, even the most ardent practitioner can be derailed by these snafus.  

Many faults are rooted in typical, fundamental, misunderstandings about what the purpose of meditation is. These can derail any human being despite the best of intentions. The good news is, the meditations taught by Meditation from the Heart and the way they are presented, side-step the common errors entirely, giving you a far more reliable and enduring experience.

As we reveal more common meditation mistakes see if you recognize your own meditation ‘block(s)’.

Meditation Mistake #5: "I use my meditation as an escape from the challenges of life." Some

I'm sure it will be better over there

people may use meditation as a refuge or 'spiritual bypass'. Escaping into meditation to avoid facing or dealing with uncomfortable feelings or issues. This approach does not lead to good results. Rather such avoidance could lead to less, not more, ease and ability to deal with life issues.

Meditation is more about being fully present with everything that is - including discomfort and challenges. If there were no tough challenges in life then our life would become boring. And we would naturally create a situation that provides difficulties for our-self just to shake things up a bit.

Your meditation practice can empower and strengthen you to face truth and reality without hiding. Most of us are human beings who live and work in the world and have not chosen the monastic lifestyle. Please don't use that as an excuse to wait to have a meditation practice until 'the time is right.'

Also, ask yourself, "When or where are you happy?" Is it on vacation? Do you lose that happiness when you come back home and to work? Then treat your work as though you are on vacation. Be happy at work.

Meditation Mistake #6: "I hop from one spiritual teacher to the next trying to find the one who will make me feel the best and fulfill my desires." "Danger Will Robinson!" No one can make you feel anything or fulfill your desires. Only you can do these things for yourself. It is easy to show powerful and wonderful mystical experiences. It is much harder to work at a gentle pace to build a strong foundation which builds a harmonious and contented life. 

Don't be a cyber-bot

Please, do not give your power away to anyone. You and the innate spirit that resides within are perfectly capable of leading you to live a fulfilled life. Let your teachers gently remind and nudge you in the direction that is right for you.

More than anything, realize that we live in an age of fast information, where we can look up something that is puzzling us, read about it and decide if it is helpful or not. The key here is one, not to forget to take the time away from technology to just be with yourself. And two, to remember to move at the pace of a human being - not a cyber-bot.

Two More of the Six Common Meditation Mistakes

Previously, we have looked at two of  the six most common meditation mistakes. (#1: I'm trying to quiet my mind. #2: I'm just trying to feel peaceful and open during my meditations.) If you have tried meditation and have become frustrated either with maintaining your practice or with a lack of results, do not feel alone. At times, even the most ardent practitioner can be derailed by these snafus.  

Many faults are rooted in typical, fundamental, misunderstandings about what the purpose of meditation is. These can derail any human being despite the best of intentions. The good news is, the meditations taught by Meditation from the Heart and the way they are presented, side-step the common errors entirely, giving you a far more reliable and enduring experience.

As we reveal more common meditation mistakes see if you recognize your own meditation ‘block(s)’.

Personal Plateau

Meditation Mistake #3 - "I've been doing the same practice for months or years." First, let's remember that there is no wrong way to meditate. Experienced meditators can hit plateaus. Rote repetition of a single approach can drive you into a 'meditation rut', where your practice has lost some vitality and dynamics you have experienced before. 

If you have been meditating for years (or seems like ages) but aren't sure why you are doing it any more, Can't think of any benefits you are deriving, dread the practice or simply treat it like a habit you are forcing yourself to maintain, then this is probably your issue.

Just like an exercise program you have for your body can get stale - you need to shake it up every once and a while. Introduce some new challenges to stretch yourself. For example go to a group meditation practice, sign yourself up for a retreat or schedule yourself for an all day meditation at your own home or favorite place (not recommended for beginners).

Meditation from the Heart teaches a variety of approaches that inspires you to use your awareness in different ways. Effectively giving you tools that will 'cross-train' your body, mind and spirit. Thus lowering your chances of getting stuck in a rut. Rather, helping your meditation practice to become an ongoing journey of deepening awareness and curiosity. 

Enlightenment

Meditation Mistake #4 - "I'm trying to reach enlightenment or a permanent state of bliss." Don't worry, there are many mini enlightenment's along the way, however, you will still be learning until the day you die. Achieving a specific dramatic state of being or having flashy 'spiritual fireworks' is not the point of meditative cultivation.

If one tries to hold on to or continually go back to an incredible or 'favorite' experience you've had then not only are you actively engaging your mind, but you are also, in essence, holding on to the past and effectively closing yourself off to potentially more magnificent and uplifting experiences.

All states of being have a natural ebb and flow. Let your meditation practice lead you to a great many experiences with balance and liberation from the past. 

Two of the Six Common Meditation Mistakes

For those of you who already have a solid meditation practice – my hats off to you. Yea, yippee! Meditation is one of my favorite things to do. But if you do not have meditation in your life do not worry, it is never too late to begin.

Let’s take a step back here and look at the six most common meditation mistakes. If you have tried meditation and have become frustrated either with maintaining your practice or with a lack of results, do not feel alone. At times, even the most ardent practitioner can be derailed by these snafus.  

Many faults are rooted in typical, fundamental, misunderstandings about what the purpose of meditation is. These can derail any human being despite the best of intentions. The good news is, the meditations taught by Meditation from the Heart and the way they are presented side-step the common errors entirely, giving you a far more reliable and enduring experience.

Even better, the supportive nature of Meditation from the Heart provided in these classes offer in-depth insights on each of the mistakes below, and builds a foundation that will uplift your practice into a realm far beyond these diversions.

As we reveal the following meditation mistakes see if you recognize your own meditation ‘block’.

Meditation Mistake #1 – “I’m trying to quiet my mind.” Many people have been taught that meditation is about having a still mind. This may be the most common assumption about meditation. Untold numbers have conceded “failure” or “not being good at meditation” because they were not able to quiet their mind.

We may have moments of complete stillness within a meditation, but it is not the ultimate goal. Through stillness comes movement. From movement comes stillness.

Your mind is an integral part of your being. You need your mind to help you interpret what is going on in your heart. The trick with meditation is to learn how to simply notice when your mind is drawing you away from your center, acknowledge it, let it go and bring yourself back to your meditation. Sort of like letting the mental music drift in one ear and out the other. 

Mental Music

Meditation Mistake #2 – “I’m just trying to feel peaceful and open during my meditations.” Peace and relaxation are often promoted mistakenly as the primary purpose of meditation. Of course, meditation can produce positive, relaxed sensations, as well as many other related benefits. It won’t always, however, do that. Nothing ever always can do that. Yet many people end up believing they have ‘failed’ at meditation if they don’t feel calm, peaceful and good every time they sit to meditate.

Actually, the first stage of meditation is contemplation. So the first mistake mentioned above has to come into play. One cannot have contemplation without the mind engaged. And one cannot come to peace with the self without out spending time with the self. Sometimes that time will feel really pleasant and at times it will be difficult. The trick is to stick with it until you find the peace you are seeking in that part of you and know that then another aspect will come to the forefront.  Another layer revealed.

Fortunately along your meditation path there will always be another “ah ha!” moment or another feeling of pure joy. Through cultivation you will discover the strengths you naturally possess and a greater confidence to use them as you go about your daily life facing your challenges in a positive, productive way.

Stay tuned next week when we will discover more of the common meditation mistakes.

A Love Story

The path that lead me to my meditation Teacher and lifelong practice began at a major crossroad in my life. I was a young 27 year old, engaged to a man who was literally crushing my spirit. Fortunately I had this terrific girlfriend who was seeing the Teacher at the time.

I purchased a class package for my fiancee and myself hoping to find some answers as to how I could bring balance, freedom and joy back into my life.

Swirling Spirit of the Heart

Oh my! From the very first session,I felt I had arrived home to a safe, magical space where I could see myself clearly. And where profound learnings and shifts in being were to be had. The fiancee...not so much.

I continued to go - my spirit was thirsty for more. At the very next class the Teacher asked me, “Lisa, Do you know all men are not jerks?” I was stumped. My mind was racing to comprehend why he was telling me this.

Well, within 24 hours, the proverbial light bulb clicked on. My ‘eureka!’ revelation was that I would be so much better off if I simply walked away from the fiancee. Even if I never saw any of my belongings ever again I would be ‘saving’ myself. So, I took action. I walked out and never looked back. (Doin’ the happy dance.)

Fortunately, my girlfriend had a spare room at her house that was available to me - since I was now homeless. Also, fortunately, she was friends with a man who happened to be visiting her home along with my now husband, Henry.

February 27, 1988

Long story - short, Henry and I actually had met each other 1.5 years earlier at the same house. (My girlfriend pulled out a photo of the two of us sitting on the couch together.) Only at that time, Henry was still married and I was with that other guy. But wait, there’s more. It turns out we both grew up in Colorado Springs and went to the same high school.

Henry liked meditation too. We fell in love and six months later we were married and I became the instant mom of Henry’s three children - a 4, 7 and 10 year old.

I am profoundly grateful for my meditation practice. It not only brought my beautiful family together, but it has bolstered me at every challenge life has presented to me.

I feel honored to share what I have learned with others via Meditation from the Heart - Breathe, Feel, Laugh.

Simplicity is the hardest to attain. Complicated is easy. Simplicity: Approach life in a basic manner. If you are cold – put on clothes. If you are tired – sleep. Hungry – eat. Don’t talk about it. Just do it!